Staff Reports
State health officials confirmed 306 COVID-19 cases and nine deaths overnight in a Saturday morning report.
With the latest findings, 30,839 people, including 843-non Floridians, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and 1,055 Floridians have died. And 4,849 Floridians have been hospitalized throughout the pandemic after the Department of Health reported 32 more hospitalizations.
After a spike in new coronavirus cases Thursday, when more than 1,200 people tested positive but the state received record 21,286 tests, the number of cases Friday appeared to return to the new normal of fewer than 900 cases per day. The number of new coronavirus cases peaked on April 3, when just over 1,300 people tested positive.
In Miami-Dade County, 11,005 have tested positive, an increase from 10,926 Friday evening, and eight died, raising the county’s death toll to 295. In Broward County, no additional Floridians died, still 162 total, but 4,659, up from 4,591, people have tested positive. In Palm Beach County, 2,614, up from 2,600, have tested positive and still 155 Floridians have died.
Previously, the twice-daily COVID-19 reports showed the percentage of positive tests received among all tests reported per day. But Gov. Ron DeSantis said that percentage, which has hovered between 9% and 10% in recent days, is inflated by the number of people who have previously tested positive who are tested again to check if they are healthy again.
On Friday, the Governor ordered health officials to include the percentage of positive tests among people who have not yet tested positive. The two weeks of testing progress displayed in Saturday’s report show a consistent decline in new cases from at least April 13, when 10% tested positive, to 5% Friday.
In South Florida, the state’s continued hot spot of COVID-19, the percentage of positive tests remains higher, the Governor says. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties alone account for nearly three fifths of the state’s coronavirus cases, and that proportion has been growing.
The Governor’s Re-Open Florida Task Force met for the final time Friday before members, and the public, submit their recommendations on how to safely restart the state economy, due Sunday. The task force’s final recommendations for the state’s short term response should be on the Governor’s desk next week.
In his daily COVID-19 newsletter, House Speaker José Oliva prominently linked to a news article titled “The Pandemic Is Over.” The email was the latest contrarian perspective offered by the speaker during the pandemic.
